title: Imagining public engagement.
abstract: Two separate studies look at how student samples conceptualize public engagement. The first study involves the quantitative analysis of an open-ended survey question and finds that participants have a range of ideas about what public decision-makers might do to consult the public but that most of these mechanisms involve very little opportunity for actual consultation. The second introduces a "draw a meeting test" and finds substantial homogeneity in how participants envisage this specific mechanism of public engagement. As with study 1, however, participants see little opportunity for citizens to have substantive opportunity for meaningful engagement with decision-makers. Overall, the research highlights the potential utility of broader research focused on how citizens envisage public meetings that includes testing the impact of public engagement perceptions on willingness to engage.
authors.affiliation: University of South Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Besley
keywords: participation; public engagement; public meetings